Eltville Castle (Burg Eltville) is an urban castle in

Eltville am Rhein Eltville am Rhein (; from ''Alta Villa'', Latin for "high estate, high town", corrupted to ''Eldeville'', ''Elfeld'' and later Eltville ) is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt (region), Darmstadt in Hesse, ...

in the Hessian county of

Rheingau-Taunus Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is part of the Darmstadt region; its main administrative seat is Bad Schwalbach. Outposted sections of the local administration are located in Idstein and ...

and is the symbol of the town. In German the castle is also known as the ''Kurfürstliche Burg'' (''Elector's Castle'').

History

In 1301 an older

tower castle A tower castle is a small castle that mainly consists of a fortified tower or a tower-like structure that is built on natural ground. It is thus different from the motte-and-bailey castle, which it may resemble, but whose main defensive structur ...

on the same spot was destroyed in the "Toll War" (''Zollkrieg''). After the election of the

Archbishop of Trier The Diocese of Trier (), in English historically also known as ''Treves'' () from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Baldwin of Luxembourg Baldwin of Luxembourg (c. 1285 – 21 January 1354) was the archbishop and elector of Trier and archchancellor of Burgundy from 1307 to his death. From 1328 to 1336, he was the administrator of the archdiocese of Mainz and from 1331 to 1337 (w ...

, as

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

in 1328 by the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of Mainz, and the simultaneous appointment of

Henry of Virneburg Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainment ...

to the same office by the Pope, Eltville became a bishop's residence since there were two contenders for the same archepiscopal seat. Construction of the castle under Archbishop Baldwin began in 1330 and was completed in 1345. Further building work was carried out until 1419; this included internal modifications to the

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

. The castle was destroyed by the Swedes in 1635 during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. Only the tower house remained, which was partially rebuilt in 1682. In 1938 the surviving castle structures were restored. Further preservation measures were carried out in the 1980s. The most recent restoration began in 2008 and is expected to continue for several years.

Layout

The castle is accessed via a

wall walk A ''chemin de ronde'' (French language, French, "round path"' or "patrol path"; ), also called an allure, alure or, more prosaically, a wall-walk, is a raised protected walkway behind a castle battlement. In early fortifications, high castle wa ...

and a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

bridge that leads to the north gate. To the left of the gate is the east wing with the castle hall (''Burgsaal'') and electoral hall (''Kurfürstensaal''). On its south side is the 24- metre-high fortified tower house with attached

staircase tower A staircase tower or stair tower (, also ''Stiegenturm'' or ''Wendelstein'') is a tower-like wing of a building with a circular or polygonal plan that contains a stairwell, usually a helical staircase. History Only a few examples of staircase ...

, through which the various levels are accessible. A 40-step

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

leads down to the

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

. The ground floor used to serve as a lounge for the castle servants. On the first floor of the tower is the count's chamber (''Grafenkammer''), the most elegant room in the castle at the time. With its richly decorated walls and huge fireplace, it was used as a working and living room. To the west of the castle tower is the

palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval '' Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson ...

, a former three-story residential building of which only parts of the outer walls remain today. Adjacent to this to the west is a wall walk to the south gate, which leads to the moat, and to the west of this is the district garden. Facing the Rhine, the southernmost part of the castle is the lower ''

zwinger A () is an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the medieval and early modern periods to improve the defence of castles and town walls. The term is usually left untranslated, ...

'', which is accessible through a gate that was recently built into the west side of its wall. The castle is now protected as a heritage site and, because of its special significance, is classified as "cultural monument of national importance".

Use today

The former prince-electoral castle now houses the Eltville Tourist Information Office and a castle shop on the ground floor of the castle tower. On the upper floors of the tower is a museum that includes a

Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's invention of the printing ...

memorial with a historical collection about the art of printing. On the third floor, the cathedral chamber, the ''alta villa collection'' presents documents on Eltville's town history and important engravings of Eltville. The defensive platform (''Wehrplatte'') on the fourth floor, which can be reached via 118 steps, now serves as a

viewing platform An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from we ...

with views of the Rhine Valley, the town of Eltville and vineyards at the foothills of the Taunus. The castle also offers a "gallery in the tower" for art exhibitions and is the venue for many cultural events, such as the Eltville Burghofspiele until 2007. Furthermore, the headquarters of the local registry office is located in the east wing.

References

From the flyer entitled ''Rundgang durch die Kurfürstliche Burg'' [Circular Tour of the Electoral Castle".

External links

* Th
Electoral Castle
on the municipal website, including a virtual tour.
''Stadtburg Eltville''
at ''Burgenwelt.org''
Kurfürstliche Burg Eltville
at ''rheingau.de''
Kurfürstliche Burg Eltville
at ''Burgenarchiv.de'' Buildings and structures in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Castles in Hesse Heritage sites in Hesse Museums in Hesse

History

Layout

Use today

References

Further reading

External links